We Forgot to Remember

By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Source: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, edited by Roy P. Basler

Tattletale

If I had a penny for every time my little sister said, "I'm gonna tell!" when we were growing up, I could retire a bazillionaire right now. We couldn't wait to tell mom or dad what we saw the other one do when we were kids! It was also carried over into school! There was always a tattletale in every class. They couldn't wait to tell the teacher what their classmates had done. Even now in the pastorate, I find there are adults that want to tell me what someone else in the parish has done wrong in order to make themselves look better.
Yet, somehow it doesn't translate over into our public witness for Christ. Jesus tells us to "go and tell". "Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick." Luke 9:2 We see the goodness of God everyday. We catch Him doing something all the time. Yet we do not feel compelled to run and tell someone!
If we were called to the witness stand for Jesus, would we make a convincing witness for the faith? How would we answer the questions?
- Did you see the incident in question with your own eyes?
- What were you doing at the time?
- How sure are you that you are a witness?
- Are you sure you aren't just imagining things?
What have you witnessed God doing in your life? Have you told anyone about it? It may be just what they need to hear. It may seem commonplace to you, these God-sightings, but to those who live in darkness, light is extraordinarily beautiful. Sharing in this way will open your eyes to see the beauty around you that you have come to take for granted, and will enlighten someone else's world as well. Win-win!

7 Billion Neighbors

The United Nations estimates that sometime this week, probably on Halloween, the world's population will reach seven billion people. Now, THAT'S scary! It makes you stop and think. The God of all creation, the God of 7 BILLION people, is also the God who cares for each and every one of us individually. That makes me grateful.
Gratitude is a big word for a little concept that makes a big change in the way we see life. Jesus tells a story about gratitude. Luke 17:12-19 "As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance,  crying out, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!' He looked at them and said, 'Go show yourselves to the priests.' And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, 'Praise God!' He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, 'Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?' And Jesus said to the man, 'Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.'"
The man's leprosy was already gone. So why did Jesus say "Your faith has healed you"? I have a feeling it's because there's more to the man than his physical illness. His praise of Christ showed a healing of a different type. An emotional, spiritual healing exemplified in a life lived in gratitude. There's a saying I find helpful in my times of trial and healing - You can get bitter or you can get better. Perhaps this leper had already begun the process of healing by working on his attitude while he was yet suffering from the dreaded disease. We don't know. All we DO know is that he found in his cleansing a cause to celebrate and praise God. Nine others did not. A tithe of those healed returned thanks for the gift they received.
As we enter one of the most materialistic times of our cultural year, let us remember first to say thanks. Thanks that though we are but one in a billion, God loves us still. Thanks that He came to bring Good News to the last, the least, the lost. Thanks that we are forgiven and can forgive. Thanks that we are loved and can love. Thanks for who we are and whose we are. And let us give God the glory.